Barbie & the Gisaeng Doll
by MakeItAMovie16
Summary: Barbie is a university student studying exterior design in New York. When a lone rat gives Kelly a nasty bite in her apartment, Barbie discovers that she has been targeted by magical forces surrounding a mysterious doll she bought in Seoul. Together with her best friends, Chelsea and Madison, and her new companion, Kangmin, Barbie must fight to undo the curse before it is too late.
1. Something for Kelly

Barbie did not mind the idea of a stopover on her way back home from Australia, but four hours at Incheon airport with nothing but her phone and a magazine was enough to wear her body down with boredom. A full night's stay would have at least given her the chance to explore Korea's capital, a part of the world she had never seen before.

Nonetheless, she patiently persevered through three of those four hours, sipping her coffee and occupying herself with images she had captured on her camera of her dear cousins in Sydney. She was sad that her holiday was over but looked forward to returning home to her family and friends in New York.

Reaching the end of the camera roll, Barbie heaved a sigh and returned the camera to its protective case. She rose from her seat and decided to take another look at the airport's cultural centre that she had seen earlier.

It was a sweet little shop with staff members wearing traditional attire. One was assisting children with Korean art at the table and another was mechanically working at the cashier desk. Barbie walked around and noticed some pretty jewellery encased in glass. Her eyebrows rose at the prices and she quickly stepped back. It was best to not look at things she could never afford, especially after having gone on holiday.

Against her own advice, a shelf of Korean dolls at the other end of the shop caught her eye and Barbie was compelled to move closer. Each doll was hand painted and luxuriously clothed, a perfect present she thought for her baby sister, Kelly. Barbie silenced the voice in her head that reminded her of the many Australian gifts she had already bought for the spoiled child and approached the cashier.

"Hi, umm, would you take US dollars for that doll on the shelf?"

The boy behind the desk nodded and spoke in broken English, "US dollar okay. Which one you want?"

Barbie followed him to the shelf. "I like the pink one, thankyou." She pointed to the doll that she assumed to be a queen.

He chuckled at her choice. "Pink?"

Barbie smiled and nodded, endeared by his Korean pronunciation of the word that made it sound like " _pink-euh"_.

He took it from the shelf and returned to the desk for boxing.

Barbie dug around in her wallet for $40 USD and internally wept as she said goodbye to the last of her money. She thanked the boy and took Kelly's neatly wrapped present from the desk, finally deciding enough time had elapsed and started for the gate. Only half an hour until boarding time, she thought.

She slumped herself down on one of the seats and flicked through her magazine for the fourth time. The area around her slowly started to fill up with people, families and couples and single travellers.

She eventually picked up her wheeler bag and joined the queue that had spontaneously formed while the first and business class passengers entered the gate. As the minutes rolled by, more and more people stood from their seats. Barbie turned around to look at the rest of the queue behind her and found herself glaring straight into the eyes of a hooded Korean man with a mask over his nose and mouth. He looked even more fed up with the clock than she was. Startled by the sudden eye contact, Barbie quickly apologised, receiving a curt nod in response, and turned to face the front, relieved to find the queue had ploddingly started moving for economy passengers.

The elegant air hostesses onboard politely directed Barbie to the correct aisle. Unfortunately, they did not provide her with a stepladder necessary to overcome the number of people blocking the way. Barbie stood and waited patiently for the passengers in front of her to load their hand luggage into the overhead lockers when she heard a deep monotone voice behind her.

"What seat are you in?"

Barbie turned around to see the same Korean man from the queue with the same fed up look in his eyes.

"Uhh, I'm in 52E," she said with an awkward smile.

"So what are you waiting for?" He grumbled through his mask.

Barbie frowned. "What?"

"Just go!"

He did not shout but his voice was forceful, enough to be rude by her standards.

Barbie raised her eyebrows at him.

"Go WHERE exactly?" She motioned with her hands at the crowd of people stuffed in the aisle.

"Move." He muttered.

He slid around Barbie lifting his bag in front of him. Barbie pushed herself up against a seat to let him through.

"Come," He said over his shoulder.

Barbie watched with interest as he pushed and waded through the crowded aisle, muttering a series of Korean phrases that sounded like "e _xcuse me- sorry- excuse me- thankyou- excuse me- "._ A couple of people almost fell over as a result but the man was without remorse and, even more to Barbie's surprise, the victims were not too upset.

She quickly took advantage of the space he had made and followed him through the crowd to her seat, excusing herself as she did. He was still walking ahead of her so she called out to him.

"Uh, thankyou, I guess."

He looked back and nodded before continuing on to the back of the plane.

Seeing his figure in full as he walked away, Barbie wondered how such a thin body could hold such a deep voice. She shook the thoughts away and shoved her bag into the overhead locker. She buckled up, kicked off her shoes and made herself as comfortable as possible in the economy-sized seat. She kept her earphones ready in hand for the entertainment that would start after take-off. It was going to be a long flight and she was counting on the magic of film to keep her from losing her mind, which had almost happened at the airport. But as the cabin crew made their final announcements, Barbie felt her eyes droop. She was tired and longed to be home in her comfortable bed. She knew the noise of take-off would rudely force her awake but she let her eyes close regardless.

The deep voice that had forced everyone aside in the aisle came back to mind and she chuckled to herself at the man's audacity. He did not seem pleasant but his voice had stuck with her and, for whatever reason, she wished that she could hear his voice again.

AUTHOR'S NOTES

My inspiration for Barbie is Margot Robbie.

And my inspiration for the masked man is Bang Yongguk.


	2. A New Friend

"Do you have any fruit products or wood products?"

"No."

"Any knives or other potential weapons?"

"No."

"Any fur or animal products at all?"

Barbie hated this part of the airport. She knew she had done absolutely nothing but somehow she always felt guilty of _something_ in the presence of authority. Frequently watching Border Security had not eased her paranoia. She kept her voice as steady as possible.

"No."

"Did you spend any time in farmland while overseas?"

 _Farmland? Which part of Sydney did they think she went to?_

"No."

The customs officer scribbled on her ticket and pushed her bag along the table.

"Okay, thank you, ma'am. Have a good day."

Barbie heaved her bag off the table and dumped it back on her trolley with her hand luggage. "Thankyou sir."

Walking out of immigration into the Arrivals area was like a breath of fresh air. Barbie pushed her cart passed the crowd of sign holders to a space along the wall that was out of the way, where she could message her mother about her safe landing.

She finished composing her message and waited for it to send. As her screen faded to black and a shadowy reflection appeared before her, Barbie realised how haggard she looked after flying for over twenty hours. She opened the camera app in its selfie mode and set about rubbing the sand from her eyes. She had kept her shoulder-length blonde hair in a slick neat plait at the back and, fortunately, it had stayed somewhat presentable.

At that point, Barbie remembered that she also needed transport home. Her good friend Chelsea had _promised_ she would be there to pick her up but a friendly reminder couldn't hurt. She found the girl's number and held the phone to her ear. The receiver was picked up immediately.

"Hey, barbeque! You landed already?"

"Yep," Barbie replied. "Fresh off the boat… or plane, rather."

"Okay I'm coming, I'm just coming out of the Cell Phone Lot-"

"Sorry, are you driving? I should have messaged."

"No, it's okay, I'm not even moving yet because I'm WAITING FOR THIS FOOL TO MOVE!"

Barbie gathered from the sudden background noise that Chelsea had stuck her head out of the window. She giggled to herself, half-amused and half-sorry that her friend had to waste her day like this. She also felt a bit sorry for the soul being screamed at.

"Shall I come outside somewhere?"

"Uh, yes," Chelsea breathed into the phone. Her head was back inside the car. "Because I don't know where I am. I think - oh, wait… Terminal 1… I see it! That was easy. Okay, yeah, try and come outside and hopefully I'll see you… or you will see me. Remember it's the red Suzuki."

"Okay, thanks Chels I'm hanging up."

"Ciao."

Barbie put her phone away and forced her cart around toward the exit doors where the morning sun spilled in. She found a spot outside where she could sit down and wait for her friend.

She looked around at the travellers heaving their luggage out of the terminal, loading into taxis and family cars, while some others like her sat and waited for transport. Her eyes locked on a lone figure sitting on his suitcase, concentrating deeply on his cell phone. Barbie recognised him as the masked man that had graciously cut through the aisle of the cabin like Moses. His hood was still up but, from what she could see, his mask was now pulled down to rest on his chin, exposing his nose and lips.

"Barbie!"

Barbie snapped her head around to see her beautiful auburn-haired friend stepping out of the front seat of a red Suzuki Swift, beaming.

"Hey!"

The two friends embraced for the first time in a month with a peck on each cheek and a warm hug.

"I missed you, how was the trip?" Chelsea asked, squeezing Barbie to death.

"It was great! Thanks for picking me up. How have you been?" Barbie replied, squeezing her friend with equal force.

"Yeah, I'm fine, just working a lot. Come on, let's get out of here."

"I think my ribcage is compressing."

Laughing, they finally let each other go. Chelsea picked up one end of Barbie's suitcase while Barbie held the other and tossed it into the trunk of the car. Barbie gathered her other belongings, including the boxed doll, and carefully placed them in the back seat before returning her cart to a nearby bay.

When she returned, Chelsea was busy programming the GPS on her phone for the drive home.

"Was the flight okay?" Chelsea inquired, briefly looking up from her phone.

"Yeah, it was wonderful! I think Korean Air will be my go-to airline from now on."

"Nice. Did you buy me anything from Sydney?" She asked coyly.

"Of course," said Barbie. "They have lovely clothes there, although they were quite expensive. I think you'll like what I got you."

"Woo hoo!"

"And I found a beautiful doll for Kelly in Korea."

"A doll? Does she still play with dolls?"

"Yeh, she is only twelve. Why wouldn't she?"

Chelsea shrugged. "Most kids I know today are more interested in their iPads."

"True. But this one was quite expensive, I'm secretly hoping she will just keep it looking pretty on the shelf," Barbie joked.

Chelsea snorted. "You should just keep it for yourself, then. Start a collection."

"Maybe I will. Forget Kelly!" Barbie flicked her hand as if flicking away a fly, making Chelsea guffaw at the idea.

"To be honest, I don't think I would be able to sleep in a room full of dolls. They creep me out. Especially the porcelain dolls that look like children."

Barbie understood.

"A couple of Korean women I saw at the airport looked just like those dolls. Like nothing I've ever seen before. I read that they go to drastic lengths to get a particular face."

Chelsea was unfazed. "Have you seen the clowns that go to Columbia University?"

"Touché. But the widespread acceptance of jaw surgery…?" Barbie shuddered at the thought of a surgeon cutting into her face. "I suppose it's a different world to mine."

Chelsea was again unfazed. "Clearly, you've never been to Ukraine, either. Anyway I doubt it's as widespread as you think. Speaking of jaw surgery, did you make any friends over there?"

Barbie blinked. "Nice segue."

Chelsea just shrugged with a smile.

"Actually, now that you mention it…"

Barbie turned around to see the masked man still perched on top of his suitcase outside the terminal doors, staring at his phone as if waiting for something to happen. She didn't know why, but she felt some kind of obligation to at least ask-

"Do you know him?"

Barbie jumped. Chelsea had stealthily moved right next to her ear.

"No, not really. I mean, I met him on the plane. Sort of."

Chelsea's eyes widened with anticipation.

"Aaaaand?" She pressed.

She was wiggling her eyebrows in a perverted fashion, like Groucho Marx sans moustache.

Barbie rolled her eyes.

"And nothing. He was quite abrupt actually, but he helped me get to my seat."

Chelsea's eyebrows were still doing the tango, so Barbie continued.

"I'm just _wondering_ if he has a ride home, that's all. Anyway, it doesn't matter. Let's go." Offering a lift would place pressure on Chelsea who was the one driving after all.

"Let's go ask him!" Chelsea squealed. Clearly, Barbie needn't have worried.

"Uh, okay…" Barbie laughed nervously as Chelsea locked her car and gently pushed her from behind.

"Come on, come on, come _on._ " Chelsea nudged her forward.

Barbie felt waves of embarrassment and anxiety as she slowly moved closer and closer to the man with no name. She wondered if he would even remember who she was, or maybe he would think she was just a typical overly friendly American.

"Hey."

He looked up at her with sleepy eyes and raised brows.

"Hi," he replied flatly. Barbie had forgotten how deep his voice was.

"Uh, I don't know if you remember me from the plane…"

He frowned for a moment, but then his expression warmed slightly as he recalled. _Slightly_.

"The overly polite American girl. I remember." He gave her a small mocking grin.

"Yeah, that one. I saw you just now from the other exit. We were wondering if you have a ride home?"

He raised an eyebrow. "We?"

She gestured behind her, "Yeah, my friend and-"

Barbie did a double-take when she realised her _friend_ who should have been right behind her was now nowhere to be seen. The double-crosser had run off like a punk.

Barbie slowly turned back to face him.

"Well… she _was_ here."

The man chuckled for the first time, exposing bold dark gums and brilliant white teeth.

"Thankyou," he said, still smiling. "I should be okay."

"Okay." Barbie smiled back. She turned to leave, then took another step that wheeled her right back like a figure on a wind-up music box. "Someone is picking you up?" She asked.

The man furrowed his brow and looked at his phone. "Uhh, yeaaaasss…"

He drew out his answer, unsure.

"…I think." He finished. "I don't know."

Barbie slowly nodded in semi-understanding, silently asking for confirmation. The man continued.

"My brother was supposed to pick me up. But his boss won't let him leave or something like that." He bowed his head to massage the back of his neck.

"You can't take a taxi?" Barbie suggested.

"I don't have enough money." He said with a hopeless smile.

"Oh."

That was unfortunate. Barbie had no cash on her either, although she did have her savings card with $20 to spare. She really did not want to spend it but…

"I can… cover you for a taxi?"

The man's head snapped up. "What? No! Please don't. It's fine." He waved her generosity away.

Barbie mentally breathed a sigh of relief but she still felt sorry.

"Are you sure?"

He nodded briskly. "Yes, I'm sure. Thankyou very much."

He gave a final curt nod in thanks.

"It's okay," Barbie replied, "Are you sure we can't drop you somewhere, though? Maybe it will be easier for your brother to get you?"

The man raised his head and looked at her.

"Uhh…" He was pondering. Barbie could tell he was tempted to accept but did not want to impose.

"Are you staying with your brother?" Barbie thought she would move this along.

"Yes," He affirmed. "I don't know the address but I know he is living in a house with one of our friends near Columbia University."

That was a strange coincidence.

"Really? I attend Columbia!" Barbie exclaimed.

"Oh, really? What do you study?"

"Architecture," said Barbie. "What about you?"

The man laboriously rubbed his brow. "Pathology. Cell biology. Something like that."

For someone who had not yet started the semester, he already looked horribly sick of it.

"Wow. Best of luck, sir." Barbie tried to cheer him on.

"Thanks. I will need it," he joked.

By now, Barbie was struggling to find any other words to say to this stranger, and the silence had her fidgeting with the ends of her sleeves. He had turned down her help multiple times now, so she thought it best to just leave him alone.

"Well, if you're sure you're alright, I'll leave you to it."

Barbie waved happily at the man and he responded with a nod and a final thank you as she left.

She took hurried steps back to Chelsea's car in the bay, away from the awkward situation at the Terminal exit. She found Chelsea sitting comfortably in the passenger seat playing on her phone with the door open, one leg lazily draped out on the curb. She looked up as Barbie approached the car.

"What happened?" She asked, innocently.

Barbie groaned.

"If you hadn't bailed on me, I wouldn't need to tell you, would I?"

Chelsea just laughed like an idiot. "Well, I can't just leave my car unattended in the bay, can I? I think we have to move, too. So he didn't need a lift?"

Barbie shrugged her shoulders.

"He said his brother is picking him up, but he is running late. I offered him a lift and then money for a taxi, but I think he would rather just depend on himself. If I were in a new country, I would probably be the same way. I should have given him a contact number, in case he needs help. I didn't think he was a very likeable person at first but talking to him just now, I think… that… Chelsea, can you stop that?"

Chelsea's sleazy eyebrows had resumed their routine. Barbie rolled her eyes for the second time.

" _Soooo,_ " Chelsea sang at her with anticipation. "What was his name?"

Barbie opened her mouth to answer. Then she stopped, her mouth half-open.

"I don't know!" She finally voiced her own surprise with herself. "I didn't even ask!"

She expected to be laughed at but Chelsea remained quiet. In fact, she looked like she was trying not to squeal. Barbie furrowed her brow.

"What's wrong, Chels?" She asked her.

Chelsea's eyebrows were now at her hairline and her eyes wide enough to pop out. She jutted out her chin repeatedly. Barbie quickly turned around in realisation.

The man with the mask was jogging towards them, the breeze catching the end of his long black coat behind him.

"Hey," he said when he reached them. "That was my brother. Hello."

He bowed briefly, acknowledging Chelsea's presence.

"My brother," he gasped. He, uh, still hasn't left yet…"

He trailed off. He seemed ashamed to ask so Barbie saved him the trouble.

"The offer is still open. Right?"

She checked with her friend who nodded with a smile.

The man was relieved. "Thankyou so much. I'll be back."

He sped off down the pavement to collect his suitcase that he had stuffed behind a cart bay. Chelsea moved to open the trunk once again, giggling to herself as she pushed Barbie's suitcase into a corner, leaving space for a second load. She closed the trunk with a thud.

"You know," she whispered in disappointment, "he really is not as handsome up close as I thought he was from far away."

Barbie folded her arms and rested them on the roof of the car, tilting her head.

"Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, n'est-ce pas?" she replied, with a hoity-toity air that she knew Chelsea despised.

Now it was Chelsea's turn to roll her eyes. "You always have to give me some saintly response when I- "

She stopped mid-sentence and gasped.

"You think he's _beautiful?"_

Barbie's eyes widened. "What? No, I was just-"

"That is so sweet!"

"Ugh," Barbie let her head fall forward with a _plonk_ onto the cold metal of the vehicle as Chelsea launched into a romantic monologue.

"Imagine! You meet an exotic stranger on the plane - I would prefer Latino but, oh well - and you think he is aloof at first but then things change. You develop _feelings._ You offer to help him in a way that you would not bother with any other person you had just met…" She was gesturing broadly with her hands as if setting the scene for an elaborate musical number. Barbie wanted to interject that she had only offered help to the man as a kind gesture of pity but instead she thought it best to simply remain silent during Chelsea's reverie. She lifted her head to rest her chin on her palm, drumming her fingers as she waited patiently for the end.

"Are you finished?"

"…NO ONE sees his beauty but you." Chelsea spoke over her. "How romantic!"

She laughed to herself like an idiot before stepping onto the pavement to join Barbie, enveloping an arm around her shoulders. "And you don't even know his name!"

"Oh, yes, I'm sorry."

The women jumped at the deep voice behind them. Leaning against the car with their backs to the terminal, neither one of them had realised the man had returned with his suitcase. Barbie hoped he had not been there too long.

"My name is Kangmin. I really appreciate you doing this for me."

A/N

I made an error in the second conversation between Chelsea and Barbie, sorry about that, it has been fixed so now it should actually make sense. Also keep in mind that I have never been to JFK airport nor do I have any knowledge in the fields of Architecture, Pathology or how those degrees are run at Columbia University so I do apologise if I make errors regarding those in the future.

Decembra1998: Thankyou so much for reading and your lovely comments, this is my first fanfic so I really appreciate it :)

casioamukura: Thankyou very much, I'm glad you liked it :)


	3. Longest Drive of my Life

Shaking away the embarrassment of Chelsea's exhibit, Barbie formally extended her hand.

"That's a nice name. I'm Barbie. And it's no problem at all."

Kangmin shook her hand warmly. The skin of his palm felt like butter.

"So will you be all right if we drop you at the university?" Chelsea asked.

"Yes, I'll message my brother and wait for him to come so we can go to the house together. I can just hang around at the university until then…"

"Okay."

"If it's no trouble," he added.

Chelsea shook her head. "No trouble."

With his suitcase tossed into the trunk of her car, Chelsea, Barbie and Kangmin finally prepared to leave the airport.

"Do you want to sit in the front?" Barbie asked.

"No, it's okay." He slid into the back seat. Barbie thought it rude to leave him in the back by himself but then she imagined he'd feel less at ease sitting beside Chelsea, or even herself. She took her place in the front next to her friend as Kangmin sat in the seat behind her.

Chelsea adjusted the rear view mirror and paused when something caught her eye.

"Kangmin?"

He lifted his eyes. "Mm?"

"Seatbelt?"

Barbie shifted in her seat to see that he had not worn his.

The look on his face was of genuine confusion. "In the backseat?"

Chelsea gave a large sweet smile, "If you don't want me to lose my license, then yes, please."

"Woah. Seriously?"

Barbie chuckled. "Yep. It's a new world, huh?" She said with a smile.

"Very much," he replied before buckling up.

"Thankyou! Here, hold this." Chelsea shoved her phone into Barbie's hands as the robotic voice of the GPS guided her out of the terminal.

"Can I turn on the radio?" Barbie asked.

"Wait till I get on the road." Chelsea was deep in concentration.

She drove at a snail's pace until they reached the thruway where she eventually relaxed and allowed Barbie to turn on the music.

"I'm really sorry to have stressed you out, Chels." Barbie said in earnest.

Chelsea frowned. "What are you talking about? I'm glad you asked me, it's good for me to practise coming to the airport," she reasoned.

"Well, thanks for coming."

"No sweat."

Kangmin jumped in, "Yeah, thanks for coming."

Chelsea chuckled at him.

"So what are you going to do when you get home?" She asked.

Barbie and Kangmin glanced at each other and threw the question back at her.

"Who are you talking to?"

"Yeah, who are you talking to?"

Chelsea shrugged with a look of 'duh' written on her face, "Oh, I don't know! Anyone who would like to contribute?"

Barbie and Kangmin answered in unison.

"Sleep."

Chelsea frowned. "You didn't sleep on the plane? Barbie, you would have been travelling for almost two days!"

Barbie rested her head against the window. "I slept a bit but it was restless. Maybe if I had been flying First Class…"

Chelsea interrupted. "If you ever have the money to afford First Class, you will be paying for my ticket too."

Barbie scoffed. "If I had the money for a First Class ticket, I would be spending it on a lot more than just a holiday. Can you keep your eyes on the road please?"

"They are on the road…"

"No, you keep looking this way at me. It's making me nervous."

"What are you talking about? I am in complete control of my own car- OH!"

Chelsea gasped.

She slammed on the brakes, just in time to stop the car from rear-ending the driver in front of her.

Barbie squealed as her upper body was thrown forward, her seatbelt cutting into her chest, before being pushed back to rattle her head against the seat. She heard Kangmin grunt behind her as the force of the brake shook him equally.

"Damn it. I'm sorry, guys." Chelsea said in shame, moving the hair out of her eyes.

Kangmin massaged his temples. "It's okay. With driving like that, I'm not surprised you have to wear seat belts."

Chelsea raised an eyebrow to the rearview mirror. "Oh, you're one to talk, mister…"

"Chels!" Barbie interjected before Chelsea could say anything offensive. But Kangmin had already sensed the intention.

"You were going to make an Asian joke, no?"

Chelsea laughed. "Is it a joke if it's true?"

Kangmin narrowed his eyes at her. "I thought gingers were supposed to be _jolly._ "

"I thought Asians were meant to be _polite."_

Barbie decided that was enough and turned off the radio so she could speak.

"OKAY! We are all good, it's no big deal. Are you okay, Kangmin?"

"Yeh, I'm fine."

"Okay, great. Chelsea, you're okay?"

"Yeah, babe."

"Good," Barbie exhaled. "Chels, it's green."

"Right, sorry."

She eased off the brakes painfully slowly. The hum of the engine rose in volume and the tension between the car's passengers eventually dissipated. Having spent enough time in silence, Barbie thought it appropriate to turn on the radio. So too did Chelsea finally think the air was comfortable enough for her to speak.

"Kangmin, I hope you didn't have any breakables in your bag," she said, glancing at the view mirror.

"No, don't worry," he reassured her. "I stuffed my bag well, I doubt anything could move around in there. Although…" He bent over in his seat to pick up a box from the floor of the car. "Barbie is this one of your things? I just noticed it fell. It might be broken."

Barbie reached behind her and took the package from his hands and realised it was the $40 doll she had bought for Kelly from Incheon Airport.

"Oh, no."

She slid off the plastic bag and carefully opened the box. Both the outer and inner cardboard layers had warped from the impact though the doll itself was mostly fine.

"Is it broken?" Chelsea asked, concerned.

"Not really. It's just that her hands are supposed to be one on top of the other on her stomach but now one of them is a bit loose. See? now it's hanging just a bit below the other."

She wiggled the wired limb to show the elasticity caused by the fall.

Chelsea glanced over and quickly dismissed the damage. "Oh _pfft_! The way you were talking, I thought it had come loose or something. You can hardly see the difference!"

Barbie laughed. "I know, it's not noticeable but my OCD tendencies can see nothing else."

"Okay, well I'm sorry. I'll buy a discounted one from Chinatown."

"I'm just kidding, Chels, it's okay. I'm sure Kelly wouldn't care or even notice. I gave away her guinea pig to the pet store because she wasn't taking good care of it, right? Well, she didn't notice for a whole week."

Kangmin nearly choked on his bottle of water. He began convulsing with restrained laughter, his lips struggling to contain the liquid.

"Careful you don't drown," Chelsea said, grinning as she steered the car around a bend.

Kangmin finally managed to gulp down the water. "How do you not notice an animal is missing for seven days?" He asked.

Barbie giggled. "Oh yeah, she was very excited to get it but after a while, she just lost interest. So many days she just forgot to feed it. But when she realised he was gone, she was so upset. I don't think she will ever forgive me for that."

"Ah, so now you just buy her dolls," said Chelsea.

"Correct. Much easier to take care of than a guinea pig."

"Is it a princess or something?"

"Uh no. It was just a regular guinea pig. Is that a species?" Barbie was confused.

"The _doll,_ I mean." Chelsea rolled her eyes.

"Oh."

Barbie took another look at the pale figure in her hands. Her ebony hair was elaborately wrapped into a massive sidepiece of braids and chignons, outdone by the lavishness of her many skirts dyed in various hues of pink.

"I thought it was a queen. I don't know, but it's pretty."

Kangmin leaned forward to Barbie's shoulder. "Let me see."

He took the box from her hands and observed it for a moment.

"It looks more like a _gisaeng,"_ he said.

"A gay-what now?" Squeaked Chelsea.

" _Gi-saeng."_ Kangmin enunciated. _"_ Entertainers. You know Geisha?"

Both Barbie and Chelsea gasped.

"You mean like a… _prostitute?"_ Barbie hushed.

"NO, no, no." Kangmin dismissed her concerns. "Gisaeng were like artists. Dancers and musicians and other things, you know. Even Geisha were like this. But, the way she is standing… with her hands… this is how a queen stands not a gisaeng, so you might be right… ah, I don't know…"

Barbie observed his face as his voice trailed off. His brow was furrowed in deep concentration.

"You seem to know a lot about this," she said with a cheeky grin. "Are you sure you aren't studying fashion?"

He gave her a sarcastic laugh in return.

"No. Late night dramas can be very… educational. Here."

He handed the doll back to her.

"I'll Google it when I get home," said Barbie. " _Gisaeng… gisaeng…"_

She let her American tongue grow accustomed to the new term.

"So Kangmin," Chelsea decided to begin a new conversation. "How long are you staying in the States? Is it permanent?"

Kangmin leaned back against his seat and looked out the window.

"I'm not sure. I will be here until I complete this degree. And then after that, I'm not sure."

"Well, where exactly is your brother staying?"

Barbie chimed in. "You don't even have his address, do you?"

As if on cue, the high-pitched voice of an angry miniature thug sounded, screaming at Kangmin to pick up his phone.

"That's him now," he said, pulling the phone out of his coat, preparing to answer.

"That was scary," Chelsea said to Barbie who nodded in agreement.

Not as scary though, they both realised, as the heated conversation that would take place behind them. She wasn't sure what had been said on the other end but by the tone of Kangmin's response, it must have been a lame excuse for leaving him stranded at the airport. He was clearly not happy.

" _NO._ " He rumbled into the receiver. It was the only word in Korean that Barbie knew besides " _Yes"._ She and Chelsea exchanged glances, slightly frightened by the noise. Just as he had spoken to her on the plane, his voice never reached the point of yelling but it had become heavy and intimidating, even more so now that he was not just annoyed but angry. In a foreign language, his voice sounded even more threatening. Both of the women remained completely quiet as Kangmin scolded his brother. Barbie knew they would have a laugh about this once he was gone.

Another minute passed and his voice calmed. He was repeating a particular word over and over again in a reassuring tone that sounded to Barbie like forgiveness.

Barbie looked over her shoulder and saw him alternate between listening to the phone and removing it from his ear to type notes, saying nothing besides an occasional " _yeah"_ or " _okay_ ".

Barbie returned to face the front and released a breath she did not know she was holding. She heard Chelsea snigger under her breath. Looking over at her, they both struggled to suppress laughter.

Finally, Kangmin ended the conversation and returned his phone to the inner pocket of his coat.

"I'm sorry about that."

"Hmm? Sorry for what?" Chelsea asked innocently, making Barbie cough out a laugh.

Kangmin looked at her incredulously. "You know what. But anyway, here is the address. I had the correct one already but now I know for sure." He handed the phone to Barbie.

"Great!" Said Barbie. "So why exactly was he unable to get you?"

"Well," he began, "he is working at this club and he always gets the horrible nightshifts. So he asked for the weekend off to pick me up. But then his manager, I think, asked him to work the night and he accepted, thinking he could just leave in the morning right after his shift ended and go to the airport. But then his shift got extended because of some problem customers. He was allowed to leave only now."

"Ah."

"But all that is fine! I just wish he told me from the beginning so I could have found another way home earlier instead of bothering him at work and then having to ask you."

"You didn't ask me, I offered."

Kangmin paused. "Yes, but… still."

"I have a question." Chelsea raised one hand off the steering wheel like an inquisitive student.

"For me?" Kangmin asked sweetly, playing along.

"Yes, sir. Who comes to a new country without any money on them whatsoever?"

Barbie agreed. "This was on my mind too."

"Ah," Kangmin rubbed his brow, looking very embarrassed. "I transferred a lot of money actually to my brother's account which I planned to share with him once I got here. I had cash on me as well but then…" he broke off into silence.

"But then?" Barbie and Chelsea asked in unison.

"Then… I bought this coat." He buried his face in his hands.

"What?"

"Wait, what?"

Barbie and Chelsea burst into laughter.

"You burnt all your money on that coat?" Chelsea couldn't believe it.

Kangmin threw his hands in the air. "It was discounted at Incheon! I couldn't resist," he protested.

Barbie took a few seconds to examine the coat he was wearing, which looked to be made of fine wool and elegantly shaped. Sitting well on his skinny frame, she gathered that it was also the smallest of men's sizes.

"It is nice. How much was it?" She asked.

Kangmin looked at the floor. "No comment."

"Ha! Wow, really? That much? Even on special?"

"Yes." He said with an embarrassed smile.

"Okay, then."

Barbie left it there.

They travelled in silence after that, partly out of exhaustion (after all, it had only just reached 7:30am) but mostly because no one had anything else to say.

Barbie felt her eyes droop. She found herself even more comfortable in Chelsea's tiny car than on the Boeing aircraft so she let herself drift away to sleep.

"Uhh, ladies?"

The sleep was short-lived.

"Yeh?" Chelsea and Barbie replied.

Kangmin began with hesitation. "I know you study at Columbia but do you even live anywhere near the university or is it in a completely different direction to where you are going?"

He was rubbing his hands together nervously, taking them right back to the awkwardness of their first conversation.

Barbie lazily rolled over to the right and peeked through the gap between her seat and the car window to stare down Kangmin behind her.

"You're asking now? It's a bit late for that." She said in a dark tone.

She was only messing with him but the faux anger obviously did not translate well as Kangmin's face became pale with guilt. Inarticulate words of apology poured from his lips.

" _Aish,_ I'm so sorry. How far is it from your live? I can uhh - what you say? - _remburse_ you money for gas when I go home."

Barbie was surprised to hear his perfect English descend into a sputtering accented mess. It was endearing and she could not help but giggle.

"Kangmin?" She pronounced, as if talking to a child.

"Yes?"

"I was joking."

He pursed his lips. "Oh."

"I don't live on campus but I live very close. I use my grandparents' flat so it's cheaper for me, and Chelsea lives in the same building. I take a bus but it's very close."

He inhaled.

"Ah, I see. That's good."

Relieved, Kangmin's flustered face returned to its usual calm and dark demeanour.

"And it's _reimburse,_ " Barbie corrected.

" _Reimburse,_ " he repeated. "Thankyou."

"Hey guys," Chelsea called out. "I'm nearly there. Where exactly am I going?"

"Oh, damn it, sorry. Hang on." Barbie had forgotten she was holding Kangmin's phone. She quickly programmed the address on Chelsea's GPS and watched the blue line form on the screen.

"It's 47 Claremont. I know where that is actually."

"Yeh, me too." Chelsea replied. "I'm surprised you were able to get a room without in-person selection?"

Kangmin nodded. "Yes, my brother was in control of it. We had to do online selection. He just called me when it was time and told me what to do. We wanted another place but we missed out. We were lucky to get this one."

"Why didn't you just come to New York a few months earlier and sort it out here?" Barbie asked.

"Because I was still waiting to graduate from my degree at Seoul National University."

Barbie's eyes widened in disbelief.

"Wow, that's cutting it close! Why not just wait a year before even _applying_ …?"

She had not finished her question when Kangmin spoke.

"Because I don't like to miss an opportunity. If you think too much about what to do and how to do it and what will happen, _mo, mo, mo, mo,_ whatever, then you end up doing nothing," he finished.

His tone was slightly heavy again. But this time, Barbie was not taken aback.

"That's true." She kept her face to the front as she responded. "But sometimes, you need to do more thinking before you act, otherwise you find yourself stranded with no one to help you and no money…"

She took a pause and then continued.

"…like at the airport."

She kept her smug expression facing the windscreen as Kangmin's eyes burned holes into the back of her seat. In the view mirror outside her window, she noticed his reflection look away to the floor, his stern expression melting into a warm amused smile.

"True." He said.


	4. Home Again

It was almost 8am when they arrived at the avenue of Kangmin's residence. Chelsea drove slowly to find a place to stop as Kangmin spoke to his younger brother over the phone announcing his arrival.

"Good, he just got here."

Chelsea found a temporary stop and the three disembarked from the car. Barbie gently placed her gift on the floor in front of her seat as Kangmin and Chelsea opened the trunk to retrieve his suitcase.

"Are you sure he is here?" Chelsea asked, wearing her sunglasses to look up at the sunlit building.

"If you have brought me to the right place, then yes." He said with a grin, lowering the lid of the trunk.

"Here," Barbie picked up his drink bottle from the back seat and handed it to him.

"Ah, thanks," he said, stretching his left hand to take it from her.

As he did so, a small metal object flew in Barbie's direction, and fell to the ground with a chime.

"Woah!" They both exclaimed.

Taken by surprise, Barbie quickly crouched before Kangmin could and found the small steel ring that had jumped off his finger onto the pavement. She noticed that it was engraved on the outside and ran her fingers over the dark markings.

"Sorry," Kangmin said as Barbie rose and placed the ring in his open palm. "That happens a lot."

Barbie smiled. "Why not hang it on a chain around your neck?"

Before he could respond, a young man had slumped his way out of the front doors of the building towards them, saying things that Barbie and Chelsea did not understand.

Kangmin responded and held his arms out, embracing the man and swaying with him with a familial warmth. As they broke apart to converse in their native tongue, Barbie noticed the brother had a similar face to Kangmin's, but with a greater air of sunshine. The Keira Knightley bone structure seemed to run in the family, although this brother's natural pout had been complimented by fuller lips and a stronger jaw. He had also let his hair fall forward over his brows in a youthful fashion, contrasting with Kangmin's slicked-back do. He looked ridiculously tired having worked all night.

"I guess that's his brother." Barbie whispered to Chelsea, who turned and whispered back.

"Oh, no shi-"

She was cut off by the young man who faced them and repeatedly bent his head to bow.

"Thankyou so much for taking care of my brother, I am so sorry for the trouble. Thankyou, thankyou…"

He continued inclining his head frantically as he shook Barbie's hand and then Chelsea's. Barbie felt her head grow somewhat dizzy reciprocating the polite gesture.

Kangmin put a hand on his shoulder and began to introduce him. "This is my brother, Dae-"

"Daniel!" The man exclaimed. "My name is Daniel, it's nice to meet you." He bowed briskly again.

"Nice to meet you," Chelsea and Barbie responded.

Barbie noticed the subtle suspicious frown that Kangmin gave his brother when he cut him off.

He then said something to Daniel that prompted him to pull out his wallet, and he began fishing around for dollars.

"Woah, what are you doing?" Barbie asked.

"It's no problem," was all Daniel said.

Kangmin explained, "You saved me a lot of time and effort… AND money."

He gestured for his brother to give the women the notes in his hand.

Barbie and Chelsea stepped back as if avoiding the plague.

"No way! Uh uh."

"Absolutely not, what is this? Seriously!"

They grandly waved the money away, humble expressions of refusal pouring from their lips.

Kangmin appeared amused by the ladies' reactions and he exchanged a look with Daniel who was also amused.

"Okay, then…" Kangmin motioned to Daniel to put the money away. He faced Barbie and spoke rather nervously.

"I suppose I will… make up for it… next time I see you."

Barbie's eyes widened. It was a hint. She could tell. If Kangmin hadn't been standing right in front of them, she knew that Chelsea's eyebrows would be doing 'the dance'.

But instead of the 'eyebrow thing', Barbie felt an unseen digit poking into the back of her spine relentlessly like the needle of a sewing machine. Chelsea was subtly urging her to make a move.

"Ow." Barbie said under her breath, forcing Chelsea to stop. Barbie pulled out her cell phone from her handbag.

"Are you… on Facebook? I might see you around the university."

Kangmin smiled.

"Yeah, if you are ever around the labs…"

He took Barbie's phone from her outstretched hand and typed his full name into the Facebook search bar. He located his profile in the list and added himself.

"There you go," he said, returning the phone to her. "And thank you very much." He nodded to Chelsea.

"My driving is not so bad, ay?" Chelsea joked in return.

They said their goodbyes and Barbie and Chelsea boarded the car once again to return home. As Barbie sat down in the front seat, taking care not to step on Kelly's gift, she could hear Chelsea humming some ridiculous merry tune displaying her excitement about the exchange. Barbie suppressed a smile.

She rolled down her window so she and Chelsea could bid a final goodbye.

The brothers watched on and waved as the red mini rolled down the avenue out of sight.

Daniel looked at his brother and then at the shrinking figure of the car, curious to know exactly what had transpired. When Kangmin let out a sigh, his confusion evolved into an expression of absolute disgust. Kangmin noticed and edged back in surprise.

" _What's wrong?"_ Kangmin asked him.

" _It's amazing. You make me sick."_ Daniel said.

Kangmin opened his palms. " _What do you mean?_ "

Daniel folded his arms across his chest in a huff. " _I've been here a whole six months before you and did not get close to anyone. You've been here two minutes and you already snagged two!_ "

Kangmin just laughed at him.

" _It's not like that. They were just helping me. And what is with this name, 'Daniel'?"_

Daniel ignored him. " _You like the blonde, don't you?"_

Kangmin's jaw dropped.

" _No!"_

 _"_ _You like her."_

 _"_ _No."_

 _"_ _Yes."_

Kangmin spun on his heel and wheeled his suitcase inside, leaving his brother on the footpath.

Daniel remained where he was and watched Kangmin's retreating figure. He looked at the keys in his hand and then back at the doors to the building. A few seconds passed when Kangmin returned to stand right in front of Daniel.

" _Where am I going?"_ He asked sheepishly.

Daniel sniggered and led him inside to their new home.

Back in the red mini, Chelsea released a great demonic yawn.

"You want to have lunch in my flat?" Barbie offered.

Chelsea agreed.

They arrived at their complex and sluggishly disembarked the car, hauling Barbie's luggage with them. As they plodded their way to the elevator, Barbie heard her phone chime with a new message.

 _When are you coming home? We are waiting for you at the door._

It was her mother. Barbie assumed by "we", she meant that Kelly was with her.

She returned the phone to her bag without replying and boarded the elevator with Chelsea.

"Mom is here," she informed her as the clunky tin can of an elevator carried them upwards.

And sure enough, upon exiting the elevator, Barbie and Chelsea turned the corner to see her apartment door left ajar. A wave of blonde passed behind the gap in the doorway and jumped at the sight of them.

"Barbie!" Kelly called in delight, scurrying out of the apartment to throw her arms around her sister's waist. Barbie squeezed the girl tightly with affection.

"Hey, you! Did you miss me?" said Barbie.

"Yeah," Kelly mumbled against her stomach.

Her mother joined them outside the door and gave Barbie and Chelsea a peck on the cheek followed by a hug.

"You took a while!" She said. "I didn't think it would be such a long drive from the airport."

"How long were you waiting?" Barbie asked.

"We just got here about ten minutes ago, but I assumed you would have reached here long before that considering what time you landed. What took you so long?"

Barbie and Chelsea exchanged glances and immediately started giggling which elicited a confused frown from her mother.

"We had to drop someone home," Barbie finally said.

Her mother was still wary. "Okay. But I feel like I'm missing something."

Barbie began to explain but her mother waved it away. "Tell me later, I have to go now."

Kelly pulled away from Barbie and began digging through the bags she was holding like a mouse after cheese.

"But why did you come here?" Barbie asked, handing the bags over to Kelly. "I was going to come over and see you in the afternoon."

"That's the thing. I have to go to the store because apparently the new girl messed up an order and sent flowers to a client's wife with the wrong name on it so she accused him of cheating and now we are in trouble." She rolled her eyes in exasperation making Barbie chuckle. "So I was hoping I could leave Kelly with you for the afternoon."

Barbie turned to look at the little blonde girl sitting on the floor sifting through her souvenirs.

"Don't worry," Kelly said without looking up. "I'm not happy about it either."

Barbie folded her arms and towered over her in a threatening manner. "You will have to be on your best behaviour. I've got horrible jet lag."

Kelly stuck out her tongue in response.

"Great!" Barbie's mother said. "Are you coming inside or are you setting up camp out here?"

"Inside. I'm actually glad you came here first because I don't even know where my key is."

"Good thing I told you to give me a spare, right?"

Barbie dragged her suitcase inside the door while Kelly brought in the hand luggage.

"Be careful with that one, Kelly." She nodded at the bag carrying the box from Korea. "That's fragile. It's already a bit damaged."

"What is it? Can I open it?" Kelly took the box out and examined the label on the underside.

"Sure," said Barbie. "It's yours anyway."

Kelly began to open the cardboard.

"Okay, I'm going to go then." Barbie's mother said, looking at her watch. "Call me at work if you need anything."

She gave her daughters a kiss and said goodbye to Chelsea before taking her purse from the kitchen counter and hurriedly walking out the door.

Barbie shut the door behind her and strolled over to the couch where she collapsed in an ungraceful mess.

"Wow! I love it!" Kelly squealed in delight, regarding the doll in her hands with wonder.

Chelsea lazily joined Barbie on the couch. "There you go. She can't even tell that it's broken."

"And it's pink!" Kelly continued without listening. When she realised what Chelsea had said, she looked up in curiosity. "How is it broken?"

Barbie lifted her head from the armrest. "It's not broken, just distorted a little _._ Her arm is a bit loose because Chelsea nearly crashed into someone on the thruway and the box fell over."

Chelsea scoffed at Barbie's audacity.

"Oh, I see it." Kelly gently wiggled the slightly displaced hand. In her childish innocence, she then spoke to the doll as if to a living being, "Please don't be too angry with Chelsea."

Chelsea groaned as Kelly continued.

"I'm sure she didn't mean to hurt you."

Kelly pulled a slim pink ribbon from her hair and placed the doll on the coffee table to gingerly wrap the ribbon tight around its milky resin hands.

"Yeah, I'm sure Chelsea didn't mean to hurt it," Barbie reiterated in jest.

Chelsea swung her head around.

"Excuse me? Maybe if you cared about it so much, you would have kept it in your lap instead of in the back with Kangmin!"

Barbie giggled into the cloth of the armrest. "I'm just teasing. Relax."

"What's a _kun-min?_ "

Kelly awkwardly pronounced the unfamiliar name.

"He's Barbie's new friend," Chelsea said with an eyebrow wiggle.

Barbie scowled and unceremoniously hoisted herself up into a sitting position.

"What do you mean 'he's _my_ friend'? You met him too!"

"Ooh!" Kelly clasped her hands in delight. "It's a _man?_ "

Much to Barbie's annoyance, Kelly joined Chelsea in an immature sing-song chorus of " _Barbie's got a boyfriend, Barbie's got a boyfriend…"_

"You know I can take away all the presents I got you?" Barbie threatened.

Kelly immediately shut up.

"Don't take my doll away," she muttered, holding the doll to her cheek with maternal care.

"Wow," said Chelsea. "I think she likes that doll more than she likes you."

Barbie produced a derisive laugh in response.

"Come on, I'm hungry." She rose laboriously from the couch and dragged her feet to the kitchen. "I've got some frozen meal packets if you want them?"

"Yes, please," said Chelsea. "Give me lasagna if you have it."

"Yeah, I have it here somewhere."

Barbie dug around in the freezer. "Kelly, are you hungry?"

She received no answer.

"Kelly?"

Barbie craned her neck to see Kelly standing stiff as a board, clutching her doll and staring into its eyes as if in a trance.

"Kelly, what's wrong?" Chelsea asked.

Barbie shut the freezer and moved to kneel in front of Kelly who remained fixated on the doll. Barbie clicked her fingers under Kelly's nose and was relieved to see the little girl finally blink, waking up from whatever reverie she had landed in.

"Nothing's wrong," she said. "I just… I just saw her…" her voice trailed off.

"What?" Barbie pressed her. "What are you talking about?"

Kelly frowned, still looking at the doll.

"Her eye just gleamed at me!" She finally exclaimed. "Like she was looking at me!"

Chelsea raised an eyebrow while Barbie let her head hang in both relief and annoyance.

"Kelly," she looked up at her. "It was just a trick of the light. I thought you were having a fit or something, geez! Why are you trying to scare me?"

Barbie rolled over and made her way back to the kitchen followed by a persistent Kelly.

"I _know_ what I saw. There was a glint in her eye. Barbie, I think this doll is magical!"

Barbie let out a sigh and slowly nodded as she pulled three packs of frozen lasagna from the freezer and placed them on the counter. It was way too early in the morning for this level of imagination but she decided it was probably best to play along anyway.

"Okay, okay. Yes, she is, Kelly. She is magical."

Sensing the half-hearted tone, Kelly scoffed and waddled to her room in a huff, shutting the door behind her.

"Oh, Kelly, I'm sorry!" Barbie called after her hopelessly.

Chelsea giggled and stretched her legs to let her body take up the entire length of the couch in a style reminiscent of Cleopatra.

"She'll be fine," she confidently assured. "You know, kids have this amazing imagination and if the people around them don't play along then they grow up all angst-y and depressed."

Barbie finished pressing the numbers on the microwave door and narrowed her eyes at Chelsea. " _Thankyou_ , that's very helpful."

Sitting cross-legged on her bed, Kelly stared intently at the delicately-painted eyes of her new doll. She was certain that the magical sparkle had not been a figment of her imagination nor had it been a 'trick of the light' as her sister had claimed. Kelly had a feeling in her gut that that glint signalled the presence of a living soul inside. She removed the wires that bound the doll to the protective cardboard and smoothed out its skirts.

"I wonder what secret you are hiding?"

The little girl kissed the doll's cold resin cheek and propped it on her shelf. She made for the door and glanced over her shoulder to see the doll looking absolutely regal on its new perch, its hands enveloped in the pink ribbon. Kelly stepped into the corridor leading to Barbie's living room and shut her room door behind her.

Had she stayed a second longer, she might have seen that the doll's cheek on which she had left a kiss was now glistening with a single teardrop.

A/N

These chapters took way too long to upload than it should have (the idol who inspired Kangmin recently had a concert in Sydney so I was distracted for while with post-concert depression) so thank you to anyone who is still reading :)


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